Laughter
on the 23rd FloorBy
Neil Simon, directed by Steve Coats
Home Made Theater, Spa Little Theater, Saratoga Springs, through
May 9

In the 1950s, the best comedic minds of the era labored together
to produce a kind of Saturday Night Live for the Cold
War generation. Your Show of Shows, a 90-minute live
variety program starring the mad genius Sid Caesar, ruled
the airwaves, spawning an equally eccentric team of writers
that included Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart (of M*A*S*H
fame), and Broadway perennial Neil Simon, who turned his recollections
into the 2001 play Laughter on the 23rd Floor.

If the setup seems familiar—a tableful of wisecracking funnymen
(and a one-of-the-boys funnywoman) in New York trying to one-up
each other’s jokes as they hammer out this week’s show for
their crazy, demanding boss—it’s because both The Dick
Van Dyke Show and the 1982 movie My Favorite Year
also drew on YSOS’s backstage meshuggeners for their
inspiration. But unlike those earlier incarnations, Laughter
isn’t really going for laughs so much as trying to re-create
a moment in time, when McCarthyism was in full swing and TV
networks were starting to rein in the innovators who’d until
then had free run of the new medium to try to appeal to the
lowest common denominator.

Laughter
doesn’t have a lot of plot; it’s really all about its characters,
and Home Made Theater’s strong cast makes each individual
stand out while letting us see how connected they are to one
another. Simon’s alter-ego Lucas (Skidmore College sophomore
Dana Levin), the newest member of the crew, is our liaison
to the other characters: Milt (David Campbell), playing out
his midlife crisis by trying to break the land-speed record
from Scarsdale to Manhattan; Val (David Orr), the Russian
immigrant who hires a tutor to get his English expletives
right; Brian (Kory Checca), who struts in each Monday certain
he’ll be on his way to Hollywood by Friday; nerdy Kenny (Peter
Burleigh), who likes to take charge; Carol (Noelle Le Chevalier),
stylish in a ’50s-TV-mom sort of way; and Helen (Mary Corinne
Miller), the secretary who doesn’t quite get the jokes.

As ringleader Max Prince, Ron DeLucia is stretching his acting
wings after such earlier roles as Bob Cratchit from last December’s
A Christmas Carol, but for the most part he pulls it
off. Max is a larger-than-life figure whose emotions run so
high he’s a menace stalking around the office. Supported by
the energy level of the rest of the cast and Steve Coats’
tight directing, DeLucia may not “be” Max Prince, but certainly
sells us on his character. The real surprise in the ensemble
is Jonathan Getnick, who plays the hypochondriacal Ira. In
HMT’s last production, Getnick made a barely noticeable French
king in The Lion in Winter. Here he gives a Woody Allenesque
performance that draws some of the biggest laughs of the evening,
in scenes like the “funny contest” with Brian.

Unlike such Simon classics as The Odd Couple, though,
the real conflict in Laughter isn’t between the characters
but with outside forces like McCarthy and NBC—or with their
inner demons. And there’s a bit of a modern-day sensibility
imposed on the past in the way everyone notices Brian’s smoking
but nobody bats an eye when Carol returns to work after having
a baby. The result feels like a Simon comedy written for the
History Channel. But the effect isn’t fatal. Laughter on
the 23rd Floor still has enough hysterical moments to
make a visit to the Golden Age of Television worth the ride.

Kiddin’
Around

Really
Rosie Book
and lyrics by Maurice Sendak, music by Carole King
Directed and choreographed by Vikki Hastings, New York State
Theatre Institute, through April 30

Really
Rosie is a delight, full of the magic of children singing
and performing enthusiastically onstage. At 75 minutes, the
New York State Theatre Institute’s production briskly romps
through this imaginatively angsty show, capturing the bursts
of joy that this work (originally seen as a 1975 children’s
TV special) should inspire. With a look and book by acclaimed
artist Maurice Sendak and music by the incomparable Carole
King, Really Rosie has been a hit for almost 30 years.
Part Mickey Mouse Club, part Sesame Street, part Rugrats
on Ice (minus the skates), Really Rosie is the
embodiment of what NYSTI can achieve on stage: big whooping
giggles, huge warm fuzzies, and entertaining cuteness. For
those who despair that children’s theater is just dumbed-down
language, bright costumes, hyperbolic gestures and big facial
expressions, Really Rosie will give a welcomed jolt.
If you’ve got kids, get tickets.

Really
Rosie tells the story of a day in the life of the 10-year-old
sparkplug, Rosie (Shannon Rafferty), who lives on the segregated
section of Avenue P in Brooklyn with her despised tagalong
younger sister Chicken Soup (Jade McClenahan), along with
her best friends: Kathy (Alyson Lange), the feisty aide de
camp; the imaginative Alligator (Lawson Young) in appropriate
green costume; Johnny (Tom Callahan), the loner reader with
a quote or fact for every situation; and the apathetic grump,
Pierre (John Scala), who says “I don’t care” until he’s eaten
whole by a lion. The 13 songs in the show highlight the joie
de vivre of young lives, from the proud ego-boasting title
song to the fanciful alliterative alphabet anthem “Alligators
All Around” to the rousing finale “Chicken Soup With Rice,”
its amalgam of dance styles ending with an impressive chorus-line
kick. NYSTI’s Really Rosie will leave you humming in
the aisles as you exit, hungry for more.

Director and choreographer Vikki Hastings keeps the kids focused
and stages Really Rosie with some really peppy pop.
The delightful cast brings an infectious energy, and there’s
nary a wandering eye nor awkward pause during the nonmusical
moments, a rare phenomenon in middle-school musicals. With
a cast of institute interns or “Young people affiliated with
the NYS Theatre Institute,” this is the crème de la crème
of area adolescent performers, and they fill the stage with
great panache.

While the energy was evenly exhibited by all the cast, special
note should be made of Shannon Rafferty as the red-haired,
red-evening-gown- and feathered-hat-wearing Rosie, who preens
and puffs with the exaggerated self-assurance of a pint-sized
Mama Rose (of Gypsy fame); 30 years from now Rafferty
will do a “Rose’s Turn” that will burn up the stage. Equally
impressive was Lawson Young as Alligator: Young (who with
her diminutive stature and pale blond hair looks like she
followed the light from the movie Poltergeist) not
only turns in a high-energy rendering of “Alligators All Around,”
but she also brings a snap and focus to all the songs that
she’s in, which would be no mean feat for even mature performers
of NYSTI’s resident company. Young has rhythm and a whole
lot more. With performances like these, Really Rosie
is a show that will please friends, family, and complete strangers
who just like old-school entertainment performed by new school
kids.